


The Dark Arts Weren't Always So Dark

by IvyCpher



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark Arts, Dark Magic, Draco Malfoy is a Good Boyfriend, Draco Malfoy is disowned by his family, Established Relationship, Good Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter is a Good Boyfriend, Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), History of the dark arts, M/M, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin Raise Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 08:36:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18913390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyCpher/pseuds/IvyCpher
Summary: Harry and Draco go on a date to a dark arts shop.





	The Dark Arts Weren't Always So Dark

When most first found out, they found it incredibly hard to believe. They found it odd. They found it moronic. They thought it dangerous. That Harry Potter was dating Draco Malfoy, son of a death eater and the only heir to one of the oldest pureblood wizarding families in Great Britain.

Harry on the other hand, didn't really care what all the others thought. For one, it was no one's business who he snogged, and for two all of them judged Draco just by his family alone. And Harry thought that that was one of the worst things you could do to a person, because no one got to choose their family name or the circumstances to which they grew up in.

Besides, half of what made Draco undesirable to many at a first glance was already half true. He had been disowned by his father during his third year of studies at Hogwarts and was living in the Weasley Burrow. He had no more a promised vault of galleons to inherit when his mother and father died, nor was he given any special treatment by backwards pureblood wizards and witches for his esteemed bloodline anymore.

While some of Draco changed from the circumstances of dating Harry and making genuine friends, much of it stayed the same. He was cold when he wanted to be, sarcastic by default, and of course he had a great interest for dark objects. The last part frightened Harry far less than other aspects of Draco's personality, but his uncles Sirius and Moony and even his best friend Ron thought he was a bit of a dolt for not caring about it. But how could Harry be concerned when he understood Draco's infatuation?

Though Harry wasn't as much interested in the gruesome workings of dark objects like Draco, he enjoyed the history of them finding out just what drove so many witches and wizards to the edge to make them. Hearing about their histories made him feel like he was listening to a ghost story, it made his skin tingle and his mind sharp. He loved that feeling.

Draco knew of all the shops that sold dark objects, his father had used to take him to them frequently to sell many of their more dangerous objects before a tipped off Ministry raid. Whenever they could, Harry and Draco would sneak off to one of these shops and spend a good portion of the day there. With Draco talking in excited whispers of what some objects were, Harry wrote them down to research later.

Today was one of those days. They had told everyone that they were going on a date, and it wasn’t much of a lie really; because they were going on a date. A date to a dark arts shop is all, with probably a stop for ice cream before going home.

They had apperated on the steps of some grimy little shop in the foggy hills of Scotland, and Harry looked around. Besides the shop there was nothing for miles. “Why is it the only thing out here?” He asked Draco, clutching his hand.

Draco turned to Harry with a smile, “It’s one of the best shops for the dark arts, I’ve seen some stuff here that I bet even Granger doesn’t know about.” With that he opened the door and lead the way inside.

When Harry stepped inside he heard the loud call of a raven and he spun around, standing on an empty arm of a coat stand stood a raven. It had oddly human looking eyes and Harry stared at it for a moment longer until it hissed at him.

There came a shuffling from the back of the store and a small man emerged, Harry thought he looked rather mugglish for owning a shop of this type. The man had long grey hair that was pulled up in a ponytail and a short beard that looked like it was badly dyed black. He wore a cream dress shirt rolled to his elbows and a faded red sweater vest. “Draco?” The man asked, stopping his steps. He pulled a pair of glasses from the pocket of his slacks then blew on them before putting them on, they made his eyes look gigantic. A smile spread across his face and he made quick steps towards them. “Why I haven’t seen you or your father in here forever, been going to Borgin and Burkes have we?”

Draco’s smile fell, he shook his head. “My father and I aren’t on speaking terms at the moment, Mr. Bailey.”

The old man’s face fell, “I’m sorry to hear that. It’s not about-?”

Draco nodded.

Bailey nodded in a serious manner and clapped Draco on the shoulder, “Nice to have you on the right side, son.” He looked over and finally noticed Harry. “And who’s this?”

Though Harry was already curious about this Bailey man, he prepared himself to be answering questions from him and not asking them. “I’m Harry Potter, sir.”

Bailey’s enormous eyes widened behind his glasses and he gave a quick glance to Draco, his eyes wondered to their joined hands. He smiled, “Why Draco, your father would be fuming if he knew, it’s a good thing I’m not him.” He laughed softly and patted Draco on the back, “Now go on, I’ve got a good stock that I know you’ll enjoy.”

Draco smiled again and led Harry further into the cluttered shop. All around them there were bookcases filled from head to toe and completely stuffed with books of all shapes of sizes. There were tables and little end tables cluttered with jars and skulls and jewelry and all other things else. It was a lot to take in.

Once they were so far into the store that Harry was sure the man in front couldn’t hear him, he spoke, “What’s his deal?” He asked as Draco dropped his hand to examine a little glass container tightly sealed with sentient looking pieces of moss rolling about.

“Bailey?” Draco looked over the container at Harry and set it down. “Well he’s a half-blood on his mother’s side. He’s interested in the dark arts, but only as a collector really. He likes the history behind them and thinks that they should be properly taught about instead of being feared.” His fingers hovered over a small ruby ring on a satin pillow with a little index card that said ‘ **DO NOT TOUCH** ’.

Harry nodded, he had never met another, well- ‘decent’ wizard besides Draco who was just purely curious in the dark arts. Most everyone else feared them and were more than anxious when the subject strayed to them. It made him feel happy to know someone like Bailey existed. With that thought, he made a small circle and headed off to the vast bookshelves.

Harry expected the books to be like the ones in the restricted section in the Hogwarts library, full of gruemone and dangerous spells and potions. And some of them were like that, but a lot of them were different. Many of them were hand penned journals of people who had created such spells and potions, with each new date they showed the twisting mental state of the person and how their outlook was changed. He had even found things by Gellert Grindelwald and a few odd tellings of the romantic relationship between Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor.

He was on the floor with many of these books around him, absorbed in one in his lap when he heard Draco call for him. "Harry! Come look at these!" Harry put the book he was reading in one of the stacks besides him and stood up in search of Draco.

He had lost sight of him when he traveled back to the books earlier but eventually found him at the back of the shop were there was only a single self on the wall. On it were three Mason jars filled with swirling black forms of magic that looked both beautiful and frightening all at the same time. He saw that Draco was holding a fourth jar in his hands.

"Look at these!" Draco whispered excitedly, holding out the jar to Harry.

Harry took it and an aggressive cold swept through his body, making the hairs on his arms stand up and chills run down his back. He stared into the jar and saw fleeting glimpses of reds and blue. "What is it?" He asked in awe.

"A nightmare!" Draco took another off the self, and it flashed bright green when he picked it up. He jumped back and nearly dropped it but caught it at the last second. He gave a relieved sigh and held the jar close to his chest for a moment, taking a few big breaths. "They're- they're like a cross between a dementors and a boggart. When you open the jar they rush out and plague whoever you want with their worst dreams until they die from exhaustion of not wanting to sleep or they kill themself."

"Wow.." Harry said quietly. He was really happy that Draco hadn't dropped his nightmare. He had never heard of such a piece of magic. It was horrendous and complicated and all the same so amazing. "How are they made?"

Draco's pale fingers traced the sides of the jar, he gently turned it over in his hands a few times. "By a person who has lost their mind to occlumency, they're really rare." He looked up at the remaining two on the self and sighed softly. "I've never seen any before, let alone so many in one place. I'd buy one too only if that Weasley house wasn't a bomb."

Harry laughed softly and carefully returned his nightmare to the shelf. "They sure are interesting.. I'll have to try and find a book on them, you think Hermione would know about them?"

Draco snorted, "I doubt it, she's not much into this type of stuff unless it's a potential threat." He shook his head softly, a smile gracing his lips as he too put his nightmare back. Then he wrapped his arm around Harry's waist. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"A few books," Harry shrugged softly, his gaze straying to the nightmares. He half wondered what his uncles would say if he brought something so dangerous home, but then again Moony might know something or two about them. "Did you know Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor were lovers?"

Draco gave a soft nod, "There's a bunch of children's love stories centered around tales from their relationship. I'm surprised Granger never told you about it, she is always quoting that Hogwarts: A History."

"It's in there?" Harry asked, steering them back towards the books. The piles lay scattered on the floor just like he had left them.

"Of course, haven't you read it?"

"It's uh- on my to-do list." Harry grinned nervously and hastily picked up an armful of the more interesting books he had seen. He put the remaining ones away. "You interested in getting anything?"

Draco shook his head, "No, I might have to borrow a few of those books when you're done reading them though."

"Only once you've returned my copy of Quidditch Though the Ages!"

With only mild bits of bickering they went to the front of the shop so Harry could pay for his books, he lightened his money bag quite a bit with his purchase but he was excited to get back home and read them. They were just leaving the shop when Harry paused, "Hey, Draco, I forgot this one book. Will you wait outside for me while I go get it real quick?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Seriously, Potter, it feels like I'm dating Granger more and more each day." He waved Harry off as he stepped outside the shop, "Go get your book."

Harry waited until the door had shut behind Draco before before turning towards Bailey. "Mr. Bailey, how much would one of those nightmares in the back be?"

Bailey's eyes widened through his spectacles and a smile pulled at his lips, "Mr. Potter, has anyone told you that your interest in the dark arts is nothing short of painfully ironic?"

"I hear it from my uncles all the time," Harry smiled softly. "They think I'm half mad."

"Ha!" Bailey slapped the front counter. "So did my mother and nearly everyone else in the magic community. 'Oh but, Bailey, you're a  _ half-blood! _ Is it really such a bright idea to open a dark arts shop?' Don't let anyone else stomp out your interests along as they're not harming anyone else," He pushed his glasses up his fat nose. "Usually one of the nightmares would be a solid 1500 galleons, considering how rare they are of course... But considering how much your presence means in my shop, I'll sell it to you for 900."

Harry looked out the glass door at Draco and thought about how happy this gift would make him. How Draco was the one who had gotten him into his hobby of the history of the dark arts. He turned back to Mr. Bailey and poured his money bag on the counter. "Could you accept the rest by owl?" 

Mr. Bailey nodded with a large smile, he scooped the numerous coins into his hand. "Anything for you, Mr. Potter. I'll have one of them shipped to you right away. Your address?"

"Could you address it to Draco Malfoy at the Burrow?" Harry asked while biting his lip.

Mr. Bailey's eyes strayed outside, and he nodded. "Of course, I'll even gift wrap it for you at no extra charge."

**Author's Note:**

> I really like the idea of Harry being interested in the dark arts, I mean it would be such a taboo! It'd be a taboo for anyone honestly, but mostly Harry.


End file.
